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Arihnda Pryce
Arihnda Pryce, also known as Governor Pryce, is a major antagonist in Season Three, and the secondary antagonist of Season Four of Star Wars Rebels. She is an official of the Galactic Empire and served as the Imperial Governor of Lothal 14 years after the empire's formation. As Governor of Lothal, she would be absent from the planet numerous times and instead had Maketh Tua take over while she was gone. Personality Arihnda Pryce is an ambitious human woman who looked down upon her Lothalian roots. While she was from Lothal, she had no interest of remaining on the planet. She sold out her homeworld to the Emperor and allowed the Empire to make Lothal their local headquarters in the Lothal Sector. She placed her own ambitions and career aspirations over the interests of her people; this stood in contrast to her deputy ruler, Maketh Tua, who genuinely cared for the people. She rarely visited Lothal and only returned to her homeworld because the planet had become a haven for rebels about 2 years. Her position as a planetary governor gives her an inflated ego that she derides imperial officers such as Kallus and Konstantine, adhering instead to Thrawn, holding him in high regard that she never questions his orders, which is interesting as most Imperials hold alien species in low regard. History Early life Arihnda Pryce was born to Talmoor and Elainye Pryce, owners and operators of Pryce Mining on Lothal, and worked for the family business in the logistics department. While she had enjoyed her home planet as a child, as she became an adult the planet became dull and backward in her eyes, due in part to supposed attempts by Governor Ryder Azadi's office to acquire controlling interest in her family's company. Matters eventually came to a head when, after Arik Uris attempted to convince her to sell to Azadi's office, her mother was arrested on charges of embezzlement. Arihnda gathered evidence to support her mother's innocence-implicating a likely innocent employee of the company in the process-and presented it to Senator Domus Renking. The two soon brokered a deal in which the Pryces surrendered control of their company in exchange for new offworld positions: Arihnda to Coruscant and her parents to a mining facility on Batonn. Pryce initially started helping with Lothal natives working on Coruscant, before Renking had her transferred to a new office to oversee workers from multiple worlds. While Pryce recognized it as a move to make use of her abilities while also disassociating her from him in the event her abrasive methods grew unpopular, she was pleased to be making her way up in the world, with her initial goal being to eventually reclaim Pryce Mining. At some point Pryce was elected (or more likely appointed) as governor of Lothal to replace Azadi, who was imprisoned for treason because he supported the anti-Imperial broadcasts of Ephraim Bridger and his wife. Pryce had Maketh Tuagovern governing during her absence on Lothal, her dislike of the planet having grown into contempt. At one point during Tua's governing, Senator Bail Organa loaned her two of his droids, C-3PO and R2-D2 to oversee an Imperial arms deal. However, the droids were secretly sent to prevent the weapons shipment from falling into Imperial hands, at which they succeeded with the help of a band of rebels. Tua would later stand in for Pryce during the Empire Day festivities on Lothal, as Pryce was apparently invited to personally attend celebrations on Coruscant with Emperor Palpatine. Eventually, Tua would go against the Empire and seek the help of the Rebellion in trying to escape Lothal. Kallus would find out and when the band of rebels arrived, Darth Vader would place explosives in their ship and once Tua got into the ship Vader would detonate the explosives killing Tua. This made the rebels look guilty of her murder. Fighting the Rebels After repeated successes by the rebels against the Empire, Pryce was summoned by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin who asked just how she intended to solve this persistent problem. Pryce responded that she needed "someone who saw a bigger picture", who turned out to be none other than the feared Grand Admiral Thrawn. She later joined Agent Kallus and Admiral Konstantine, they traveled to Reklam Station to investigate rebel theft of several Y-Wing Starfighters. Pryce contacted Thrawn, who upon learning the full strength of the rebel force ordered the group to break off their attack and let the rebels escape. Pryce explained to a confused Konstantine that Thrawn had bigger plans than the destruction of a handful of rebels. Skystrike Academy Later, Following that incident, Pryce and Kallus traveled to Skystrike Academy. There they met with Commandant Argin Relik and told him that several of his cadets were planning to defect to the Rebellion. When Relik protested that his cadets were thoroughly well-trained and loyal, Pryce warned him to cooperate with their investigation and told Kallus that she had something to teach him. Under Pryce's direction, Kallus proceeded to ground the cadets and question them. His investigation yielded no results but Pryce was still unsatisfied and decided that it was time to take a more direct approach. When Relik reiterated his unhappiness with the investigation, Pryce then suggested that they could reach a mutual agreement by getting the cadets into space though a mock simulated exercise. Pryce planned to use this exercise to lure the dissident cadets out of hiding. As expected, the undercover rebel agent Sabine Wren and the cadets Wedge Antilles, Derek Klivian and Rake Gahree made an attempt to escape. Pryce activated a button which disabled the TIE Fighters' solar collectors; leaving them floating in space. Under her orders, Captain Vult Skerris destroyed Rake's fighter as a warning to the "traitors". Skerris and his TIE Interceptors inflicted damage on the rebel cruiser and drove them away. After capturing the rebellious cadets, Pryce confronted the three youths. She was about to torture Wedge with an electronic torture device when Sabine identified herself as the rebel agent. While Kallus took the other prisoners to a holding cell, Pryce proceeded to question Sabine. When Sabine refused to talk, Pryce brought up a glyph of her file and "welcomed" the former cadet back to the Imperial Academy. Before she could place Sabine in the torture device, the rebel agent broke free of her Stormtrooper captors and fought with Pryce. Following a struggle, Pryce was accidentally knocked out by the stinger from the torture device. Mission to Agamar While traveling aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer, Governor Pryce was praised by Agent Kallus for her plan to lure the Lothal rebels into a trap at a fuel depot. However, Pryce responded that her plan was only a success if they could catch the rebels. Admiral Konstantine then reported that they had received an encrypted distress signal from the planet Agamar. While thinking that it was strange for the rebels to encounter trouble, Pryce nonetheless ordered the nearest Imperial outpost to send troops to Agamar immediately; resulting in a skirmish in which the Lothal rebels and the Separatist garrison under Kalani joined forces to escape the Imperials. Lothal Saboteurs The former Governor Ryder Azadi's rebel cell undertook a campaign of sabotaging military vehicles produced by the Imperial Armory Complex. This led to a high rate of accidents among Imperial Military personnel. In response Imperial High Command dispatched Grand Admiral Thrawn to investigate the Lothal Imperial factory. Governor Pryce along with Agent Kallus and Lieutenant Yogar Lyste were present when Thrawn gave a speech berating the workers for their poor craftsmanship. Pryce smirked after a test demonstration with a sabotaged 614-AvA speeder bike claimed the life of factory worker and undercover rebel operative Morad Sumar. She and her subordinates then complied with Thrawn's orders to lock down the factory and detain the factory workers for questioning. Despite their best efforts, the undercover rebels Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, and their astromech droidChopper escaped the lockdown and infiltrated the factory's Section A2, which held Thrawn's top secret new weapon. Later, Pryce discussed her fears about the rebels infiltrating Section A2 and stealing its secrets. Thrawn responded that he had ordered for anyone entering the area without his personal code to be terminated on sight. When the Admiral chided Pryce for hiring locals, she responded that she had to fulfill certain Imperial quotas. Pryce responded that Thrawn had a new starfighter initiative. After Kallus questioned the effectiveness of a single fighter in improving Imperial fortunes, Thrawn responded that victory and defeat were determined by he smallest details. Pryce was present when Thrawn ordered another factory worker to demonstrate an AT-DP walker. Pryce and Kallus later visited Thrawn's Office to discuss the recent rebel incursion. When Thrawn voiced his suspicions that the Empire had a traitor among their ranks, an alarmed Pryce advocated interrogating all Imperial personnel on Lothal. However, Thrawn counseled Pryce that emotion would not work and announced that he would uncover the traitor and co-opt them. Finding Fulcrum When Thrawn researches the Rebellion spy called Fulcrum, who is in fact Agent Kallus, Lieutenant Yogar Lyste is manipulated by Kallus saying that Pryce is Fulcrum. When Kanan Jarrus a surviving jedi and Rex a former captain clone trooper arrived on Thrawn's ship disguised as a stormtrooper, Pryce immediately ordered to surrender and remove their helmet. Kanan attempted mental control but Pryce immediately ordered a stormtrooper to shoot him before entering a fight with Rex. Though able to stand up to Rex, the veteran clone took over, but Pryce used a blaster as a weapon to carry him away until Lyste pulled him back with a stun gun. Hunt for Mon Mothma Later, Arihnda Pryce and Admiral Konstantine attended a meeting with Grand Admiral Thrawn to discuss plans to capture the former Imperial Senator Mon Mothma, who was being ferried by members of the Spectres rebel cell through the Archeon Nebula. Both Pryce and Konstantine expressed disbelief that Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla would risk traveling through the dangerous Archeon pass. Seeking to silence Mon Mothma, Pryce volunteered for the mission. Thrawn then dispatched her and Admiral Konstantine to position two Star Destroyers outside the Archeon Nebula. Thrawn then dispatched the elite TIE fighter pilot Commander Vult Skerris in a prototype TIE Defender to flush the rebels out of the Nebula. Hera's ship Ghost managed to exit the Archeon pass only to be intercepted by Pryce and Konstantine's two Star Destroyers. When Governor Pryce demanded Mothma's surrender, the rogue Senator issued a list of demands which she promptly rejected. Pryce then ordered Konstantine to use their Star Destroyer's tractor beam projector to draw the Ghost into its hangar bay. Shortly later, the rebel pilots Gold Leader Jon Vander and Ezra Bridger managed to exit the nebula with their two remaining Y-wing fighters after escaping Skerris' TIE Defender. Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory for Governor Pryce when the rebel pilots at Hera's command fired their proton torpedoes into the Archeon Nebula. This created a firestorm which damaged both Star Destroyers. The Ghost and its Y-wing escorts then fled to Dantooine where Mothma delivered a stirring speech on HoloNet urging rebellion against the Empire. Battle of Atollon Governor Pryce and Admiral Konstantine attended an urgent meeting with Grand Admiral Thrawn and Grand Moff Tarkin to discuss new information that the Phoenix Squadron and General Jan Dodonna's Massassi group were planning to attack the TIE Defender factories on Lothal. During the meeting, Pryce opined that a coordinate rebel attack was unprecedented. This meeting was a ruse by Thrawn to lure the rebel spy Agent Kallus out of hiding and discover the location of the hidden Chopper Base. Governor Pryce later accompanied Thrawn and the captive Kallus aboard the Star Destroyer Chimaera during the Battle of Atollon. Thrawn blockaded the Atollon system and managed to trap the two rebel forces. The Empire inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels, destroying numerous starships and starfighters. However, Admiral Konstantine's interdictor cruiser was destroyed when he disobeyed Thrawn's orders and tried to intercept Commander Jun Sato's command ship Phoenix Home. This allowed the rebels Ezra Bridger and Chopper to flee into hyperspace aboard the Nightbrother and seek help. After the rebel ships retreated back to Chopper Base, Governor Pryce watched as the Imperial fleet bombarded the base. However, Chopper Base was protected by a deflector shield generator. While Thrawn led the ground assault, Governor Pryce commanded the Imperial fleet. When Ezra returned with Mandalorian reinforcements led by Sabine Wren and Fenn Rau, Pryce recognized Sabine's forces and ordered the TIE fighters and capital ships to intercept them. A Mandalorian strike team then attacked the second interdictor cruiser. In response, Governor Pryce dispatched several Jumptroopers to protect the interdictor cruiser. However, the rebels managed to blow up the ship's gravity well projectors, destroying the interdictor. When the captive Kallus taunted her about displeasing Thrawn, Pryce ordered her stormtroopers to fling him out the airlock. However, Kallus managed to escape aboard an escape pod and flee into hyperspace with the retreating rebels. Pryce was visibly displeased with the rebels' escape. Death Eventually, Pryce fell out of Thrawn's favor when she destroyed the Lothal City fuel depot, killing the jedi Kanan Jarrus in the process. Fearing that she would be executed, Pryce threw all her energy into hunting and capturing the rebels before Thrawn's return in order to redeem herself to the Chiss, even to the point where she threatened a lower ranking officer with death. Just as the terrified officer left her office, another one burst in, informing her that someone was contacting her on a pre-Imperial frequency. Pryce allowed the transmission to go through, and found herself face-to-face with her old enemy, Ryder Azadi. Exchanging several sharp words, Azadi revealed to her that he was willing to betray his rebel comrades, believing that they were fighting a lost cause. Pryce was surprised by this revelation, admitting that she had never thought of him to be cowardly. Knowing that she would be able to redeem herself with such news, she told him to give the coordinates of the rebel encampment before closing the transmission. Once there, Pryce was ambushed by rebels who captured him after killing all his stormtroopers. The rebels used the knowledge of the imperial codes of Pryce for access to an Imperial Planetary Occupation Facility. Under Kallus watchful eye, Pryce transmitted the codes. On landing, the rebels fought several stormtroopers before seizing control of the Imperial Complex's command center. Pryce learned that the rebels' plan was to use Protocol 13 to lure all Imperial staff on Lothal aboard the Imperial Complex and transport them into Lothal's upper atmosphere where it would be blown up. Finally, the rebels triumphed over Lothal's imperialists and Thrawn disappeared into hyperspace with Ezra Bridger. Sabine then activated the planetary detonation with enough time for the rebels to escape but Azadi offered Pryce a chance to escape some death, but she refused, stating that she would serve the Empire to the end. Once the Imperial Complex had attained altitude, Sabine initiated the self-destruct. Pryce stood at attention on the bridge and embraced the fate of the Dome exploded, finally freeing Lothal. Trivia *Originally, Arihnda Pryce was supposed to make her debut in The Siege of Lothal and die instead of Maketh Tua, but this earlier version was cut from the final film. *Pryce bears a striking resemblance to Soviet Colonel Irina Spalko from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. *Pryce's rank plaque is identical to Governor Tarkin's―a row of six blue tiles over a row of three red and three gold―even though he technically outranks her as a Grand Moff (or regional governor), whereas Pryce is only a planetary governor. **Additionally, several promotional images erroneously show Pryce wearing an admiral rank plaque. External links * . * . 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